Shadowed(135)
“I can’t do that! I told you—she’s barely conscious. I can’t take her without permission—I won’t fucking rape her,” Reddix protested.
“Do your best to wake her up and explain the situation,” Saber directed. “Make her understand so you can give her what she needs. Look, Brother, I have to go—Lissa needs me again.”
“But—” Reddix began, but Saber had already broken the connection.
Reddix turned back to the bed. Goddess damn it, what was he going to do?
I have to wake her up, he thought, trying to push down the panic that tried to rise inside him. Have to make her understand.
“Nina?” he murmured, stroking her cheek. “Listen, I know you hate me now, but you need to wake up. Need to let me help you.”
“Hmm?” Her eyelids fluttered open at last, and she looked up at him, her deep blue eyes filled with confusion. “What happened?” she whispered. “I feel so strange…so empty. I ache inside.”
He frowned. “That’s because you are, and you need to be filled.”
“Filled?” She frowned, looking more awake. “What…what do you mean?”
Reddix sighed in frustration. “Exactly what it sounds like. I talked to Saber, and you’re not the only one having trouble from that damn bonding fruit cake—the stuff was fucking lethal. You need the antidote.”
Nina frowned and tried to sit up. Reddix helped her, supporting her head gently with his arm. “What are you saying?” she asked, shaking her head. “Are you saying you need to…”
He clenched his jaw. “This is going to sound bad—really bad—but I swear to you it’s true.” He took a deep breath. “I need to make love to you, Nina. In order to neutralize the bonding fruit, I need to make love to you and fill you with my cum.”
* * * * *
Nina opened her mouth to refuse at once, but just then another pang of emptiness hit her. She moaned and put a hand between her thighs. Before she’d fainted, the hunger had been throughout her body—like a black hole sucking in her chest. Now it was concentrated in one spot—the place between her legs. Her pussy felt hot to touch—swollen and sensitive with need. And this time she sensed his tongue wasn’t what she needed. It wouldn’t be enough.
“I don’t…don’t understand,” she whispered.
“The bonding fruit was more concentrated than you thought—to fucking toxic levels,” Reddix explained roughly. “Saber says that Sylvan—one of the ship’s doctors—told him this is the only way to neutralize it.”
“So you have to…”
“Yeah.” He had the grace to look away. “I don’t blame you if you don’t want to hear that. It sounds like bullshit, I know.”
Nina bit her lip. “Can’t you just…help me like you did before?”
“I’d go down on you all night if I thought it would help,” Reddix growled softly. “But that’s not what you need. There isn’t enough of my essence in my saliva to help. It has to be seed—cum. Deep inside you where you’re feeling empty.”
“I…” Nina could feel her cheeks getting red. “I don’t know…”
“Here.” He pushed the Think-me at her. “Call someone. Bespeak…I don’t know, try Sylvan. He doesn’t know you, but he’s a physician—I’m sure he’ll take your call. Ask him—he’ll tell you I’m not just making excuses.”
“No,” Nina pushed the thin silver wire away. “I…I believe you. I just…”
“Just what?” He looked at her steadily.
“I guess I just wonder why you care. If you’re leaving anyway…”
“I’m not leaving because I want to.” His voice broke for a moment, and he had to clear his throat. “Goddess damn it, Nina—I care about you. Care so fucking much it’s like a fist in my gut. Of course I want to help you—to save you—if I can.”
Nina took a deep breath. “So we’ll have sex…” She wasn’t about to say ‘make love’ not when it was obviously going to be a one-time thing purely out of necessity. “We’ll have sex,” she continued. “But just to neutralize the bonding fruit. The same way we, uh, touched each other in order to feed the Hurkon collar when you couldn’t get it off.”
He nodded. “Exactly.”
“And then we’ll go our separate ways, and that will be it?” Nina demanded. “Because I need to know right up front if this is going to change anything.”